Rep. Katie Dempsey heads into 7th term in House,
State Rep. Eddie Lumsden also wins another term, without opposition. A special election is pending for the District 14 seat.
State Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, won a seventh term Tuesday, winning her race against Democrat John Burnette II with 66.54 percent of the vote.
“I’m grateful for the support of so many people tonight,” Dempsey said. “I look forward to returning to Atlanta, to be involved with issues that are important to our community and boldly face the challenges that come with new state leadership.”
House District 13 takes in the whole city of Rome along with a swath of the surrounding unincorporated area. Dempsey pulled in 10,302 votes to 5,168 for Burnette. There also were 13 write-ins.
Burnette, the owner of a local insurance agency, suffered a mild heart attack Tuesday. His spokesman, Vinnie Olsziewski, said Burnette expected to spend the night in the intensive care unit but was doing well.
“He was alert and watching the returns,” Olsziewski said. “He sends his thanks to all his supporters.”
Dempsey chairs the human resources subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. She was a well-known community volunteer with 15 years on the planning commission when she was appointed to the Rome City Commission in 2002 to replace the retiring Napoleon Fielder. She served nearly four years before stepping down to run for the House seat being vacated by longtime lawmaker Paul Smith, a Democrat.
She won the seat in the 2006 general election with 50.9 percent of the vote and did slightly better in 2008. She polled close to 65 percent in 2010 and just missed 70 percent in 2014. She was unopposed in 2012 and 2016.
Also on Tuesday, state Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-Armuchee, was re-elected without opposition to his third two-year term in the House District 12 seat. The district covers Chattooga and the northern and western areas of Floyd County.
Lumsden, an insurance agent and retired Georgia State Patrol trooper, started his political career on the Floyd County Commission. He served six years before stepping down in 2012 to run for the Georgia General Assembly.
He won the seat from longtime Democratic representative Barbara Massey Reece that year, in his second try at ousting her. Lumsden was unopposed for re-election in 2014 and 2016.
Floyd County’s fourth legislative delegate will be decided in a special election to be announced later this year.
Christian Coomer, a Cartersville Republican, had been unopposed for re-election to the House District 14 seat, which covers half of Bartow and a piece of southeast Floyd County. However, Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Coomer to a vacant seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Coomer was sworn in Oct. 31, too late to remove his name from the ballot. Elections Board Chair Steve Miller said Coomer officially withdrew from the race and no votes cast for him would be counted.